Fuming Ruben Amorim blasts Man Utd 'chokers' after latest humiliation
Ruben Amorim took his Manchester United squad to Malaysia for a post-season friendly and the first of those games ended in a shock defeat for the Premier League side
Manchester United's miserable May continued in Malaysia on Thursday and head coach Ruben Amorim was under no illusions about his team's struggles. The beaten Europa League finalists suffered another 1-0 reverse, this time against ASEAN All Stars in Kuala Lumpur.
Maung Maung Lwin, a Burmese international who plays his club football in Thailand, scored the only goal of the game. Amorim put his full squad to use, making multiple substitutions and blooding youngsters during the friendly, but was in no mood to make excuses.
'No injuries and a tough pitch," Amorim told reporters after the game, but he was clearly unhappy. "We don't have it in us not to choke in every exercise, in every game – that is what happened. We should win these kind of games, no matter what. We need to bring that inside of us in every game.
'The important thing is no injuries with this weather and to arrive here in this day. It is not an excuse, we should perform better. I liked the young kids, they try. That's enough for me in the moment. They want to play more but we have to rotate everybody to play. They did well.'
United have one more friendly to come during the money-spinning tour, against the Hong Kong national team on Friday. After that, attention will turn towards strengthening a squad which only managed a 15th place finish in the Premier League.
Amorim was able to welcome two new faces in the winter window, with Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven joining from Lecce and Arsenal respectively. Matheus Cunha is set to become the first summer arrival, with United meeting the Brazil forward's £62.5million release clause.
That deal isn't quite done yet, though. 'You have to wait for that," Amorim saidr. "I won't confirm anything. I have no news. We will see. There will be some changes'
United rounded off their league season with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, but were unable to avoid their worst ever Premier League finish. After ending up 15th with just 42 points, their head coach apologised to the fans.
"First of all, I want to apologise for this season. I know you are really disappointed with me and the team," he said. "Secondly, I want to say thank you. We are very grateful for your support this season and I know it was really hard to support us in many games.
"But now we have to make a choice. Do we stick in the past? Because this season is in the past. It's over. We could fight each other or we stick together and move forward."
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